


In The Dark Of The Night

by dgalerab



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, ghost story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:22:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7012324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dgalerab/pseuds/dgalerab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Tokyo training camp has to use an older sports center while their usual one is renovated. Kenma is used to paying attention to the minor details, and the minor details in this place don't seem very friendly.</p><p>(Or: Kenma notices an angry ghost before anyone else does, and it's not a very good thing for Kenma.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Dark Of The Night

**Author's Note:**

> I... I am not sure why I wrote this. Enjoy?

It is their fifth training camp with Karasuno, and Kenma  is, at best, kind of conflicted.

It’s always nice to see Shoyo. That’s good. Karasuno is getting good, which makes it kind of fun to play with them, and it makes Kuroo happy. Those are both good. At the same time, though, they’ve had to switch sport centers, because their usual one is being renovated, and the new one is further from the city, a little creepy, and there’s an odd smell. That’s bad. All his games are old, too, and he’s kind of bored of all the ones he brought with him this week. That’s even worse.

He fiddles around with an old Zelda game during free practice, but he’s played it so many times. He’s bored, and by the time dinner finally rolls around he’s actually not inclined to play it at all. Instead, he watches the room. For a while he talks with Shoyo, but without his games to shield him, talking to Shoyo is like talking to the sun.

It’s easy enough to shake him without making a fuss about it. He just moves them a little closer to the scary setter and suggests that maybe it’s difficult to eat more than five meatbuns. Before he can even prod them anymore, they’re competing with each other to see who can get to five faster.

There’s a dark corner in the cafeteria, a nice place where he could just sit back and watch. He slides through the people in the room and slips into the corner. From here, he can see almost everyone as they talk.

The room seems less lively than before. Everyone must be getting tired after all. Kenma figured it was just him. He sits and watches for a few minutes, then slips back out to go to their room and finish his game, even if it’s boring. There’s nothing interesting about tired people when he’s tired.

He steps back into the room and at first he doesn’t notice, but a few steps down the wall he realizes that the atmosphere has changed. Bokuto is yelling about something. Shoyo is bouncing around his scary setter, giggling.

Kenma frowns, and steps back into the corner. Again, it’s very subtle, but the room seems more somber.

He steps out of the corner. It’s louder… but it’s not. All the noises are there, it just registers different.

He steps back and forth, trying to find the boundary where everything changes, or what it is exactly that does change.

Kuroo finds him like that, stepping back and forth over the line the shadows make in the corner, watching the room quietly.

“What are you up to, Kenma?” he asks, as though there’s nothing weird about this, even though Kenma has just realized there’s a lot weird about this.

“The atmosphere of the room changes past the shadow,” Kenma mumbles. He knows it sounds weird.

Kuroo steps into the shadow with him and inspects the room, without a hint of teasing on his face. “It’s because you’re lurking in the shadows,” Kuroo says finally.

“I’m not lurking,” Kenma says. It seems like more than that, but he doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

Kuroo always likes to pause after the first rebuttal. Kenma figures it’s so he can slow down and watch Kenma’s reaction. For some reason, he likes how Kenma looks when he’s being petulant.

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

Kenma looks out into the crowd. Kuroo leans over him, somehow soft in his movements. “Are you bored of your games?”

“Yes,” Kenma says. “I’ve played this one five times in the past month.”

“After training camp we’ll find you a new game,” Kuroo says. “One that will last you a whole week.”

Kenma hums quietly. Kuroo always makes big promises, but Kenma doesn’t always see how he’ll follow through. But he says, “Fine,” all the same, because it makes Kuroo smile.

“Come on,” Kuroo says, slipping his arm around Kenma’s shoulders. “Stop lurking around here, sit beside me. I’ll make sure no one talks to you.”

“I’m not lurking,” Kenma insists, but he lets Kuroo drag him along anyway.

-X-

The next day starts off alright. They get through a couple of games before they go to lunch, with only one penalty. Kenma hates penalties, but he supposes they make the games a little more interesting. After all, a game isn’t fun if there’s no stakes.

“This place smells funny,” Shoyo mutters as he sits down next to Kenma. Kenma has finished his Zelda game and is now playing one of the games Kuroo got him for his last birthday. It’s not any more exciting. If anything, he’s played it more than the Zelda games, but at least it gets a little distance between him and Shoyo, which makes it a lot more enjoyable to talk to Shoyo, even if the game isn’t enjoyable.

“This whole place is strange somehow,” Kenma mumbles.

“Ahhh,” Bokuto cries, looking ready to leap over the table to get in their faces. “You don’t know the story, do you?”

Shoyo slams his hands onto the table and perks right up. “What story?”

Kenma can’t imagine what it must be like to get invested in everything like Shoyo does. It seems exhausting.

“There was a death here, many years ago. A little boy jumped out of the dorm window in this very building.”

It’s possibly the least scary attempt to suggest that the building is haunted, but Shoyo is easily swayed. He blanches and looks at Bokuto with wide eyes. “Are you saying his ghost is still here?”

Bokuto barks out a laugh. “Probably,” he says. “I’m sure he watching us right now, waiting for one of us to wander out at night alone…” He rears back a little, and Kenma knows he’s going to make a big noise to scare Shoyo, but Shoyo doesn’t notice. “… and then, he’ll…” Bokuto leaps onto the seat so that he’s much taller than them. “…EAT YOU,” he yells.

Shoyo squeals in terror, falling back onto his seat, and Kenma sighs. It’s not just because of his height that people often think Shoyo is in junior high.

-X-

Kenma is glad when it’s finally free practice time. He’s glad to be alone, and he walks back to the dorms before Shoyo can find him and beg for tosses. He doesn’t want to play more volleyball, but he also hates to disappoint Shoyo, in some ways more than he hates disappointing Kuroo, which is essentially why he plays volleyball at all.

He’s about halfway between the dorms and the gyms when he feels someone watching him. He slows down his steps, only enough that he can pay more attention to his surroundings, but not enough that it would be noticeable.

He glances to each side very quickly, trying to make it seem like he’s still playing his game. He is, but it’s entirely on autopilot at this point.

He can’t see anything, and that makes him terribly uncomfortable for some reason. Kenma is usually very observant. Things don’t get past him when he’s actually trying to pay attention to them.

He turns around quickly and starts walking to the gyms. He’s not sure he wants to be alone right now. He finds the gym that Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi and Tsukishimi are using, and he slips inside and goes to sit by the wall.

“Hey, Kenma!” Kuroo says. “Are you going to play with us?”

“No,” Kenma says, sitting down and crossing his legs. “I didn’t want to be alone.”

“Did my ghost story get to you?” Bokuto coos.

“No,” Kenma says. “You’re terrible at telling scary stories. You don’t know how to build up the tension.” Bokuto gasps looks like he’s about to cry, probably in an overdramatic manner. “I just felt like something was watching me. I didn’t like it.”

“Hey!” Bokuto yells. “Are you trying to scare me back?!”

“You didn’t scare me,” Kenma repeats.

“Ah, of course not…” Bokuto says in a sing-song voice. Kuroo hits him in the head with a volleyball, and Bokuto is finally distracted from teasing Kenma as he turns to yell at a grinning Kuroo.

-X-

Kuroo walks back with Kenma as Bokuto and Akaashi clean up in the gym.

“Did he scare you?” Kuroo asks, his tone light and playful.

Kenma shakes his head. “I did feel something.”

Kuroo nods. “Ok,” he says, as if it’s only natural to believe Kenma, whatever he might say. “We’ll keep an eye out.”

Kenma murmurs something like a thanks without looking up from the game. Kuroo peeks over his shoulder. “Is that the one I got you?” he says.

Kenma hums as a yes.

“Didn’t you finish it in twenty hours?”

Kenma hums again.

“How many times have you played it?”

“A lot.”

Kuroo smirks and ruffles his hair a little.

-X-

That night, Kenma wakes up in the middle of the night. Kuroo is beside him, pillows crammed around his head as usual, and the rest of the team is scattered around the room, but suddenly Kenma feels very alone. He tries to ignore it, tries to think of something else.

There’s a creaking noise much like a footstep in the hall, and Kenma’s breath catches in his throat. He sits up, thinking of explanations. Someone got up to go to the bathrooms. The heating system kicked in not long ago…

He finds himself staring out the window, deep in thought, and for a moment he cocks his head, unsure of what drew his attention to the window.

For just a faint moment, he thinks he sees a face.

He slams his eyes shut and dives onto Kuroo’s back, bringing his arms over his head.

Kuroo wakes immediately. He’s always been a light sleeper, which is why he likes to bury his head in pillows in the first place. “Heh?” he says, rolling over to look at Kenma. “What’s wrong?”

“I saw a face in the window,” he whispers, refusing to pull his hands away from his head.

Kuroo is quiet for a moment, sitting up and probably looking at the window. “The one on the far right?” he asks.

Kenma nods.

“The glass is a little deformed,” Kuroo says. “You probably had a nightmare and saw it out of the corner of your eye.”

Kenma opens one eye, slowly lowering his arm. Kuroo’s right. The glass looks a little different on the panel he was looking on, in an oval shape that looks very much like a face. Still, Kenma can’t see the traces of eyes he noticed first, and he was looking head on at the window…

“Maybe,” he whispers.

“Do you see anything now?”

Kenma shakes his head.

“Come here,” Kuroo says, gently pulling Kenma into his arms. He grabs his top pillow and arranges them both so that Kenma is in his arms, Kuroo’s elbow slotting against Kenma’s shoulder as he clutches the pillow to his head. “Do you feel safer like this?”

Kenma nods.

“Try to get some sleep. We’ll look around in the morning.”

“Ok,” Kenma says. He’s scared in the morning Kuroo will just tell him he was spooked by Bokuto’s story, but Kenma knows that’s not the case. Still, he closes his eyes and eventually falls asleep to the sound of Kuroo’s steady breathing.

-X-

In the morning, they really do check it out, but there’s nothing ahead of the window. It’s on the second floor, and there’s no ledge, no trees, nothing that could help someone get up there.

“Well,” Kuroo says. “If you did see something it certainly was a ghost.”

“You don’t think I was just scared by Bokuto, do you?” Kenma asks. He has to ask.

“No,” Kuroo says. “I know how that bird brain is. There’s no way he told a story scarier than all the horror games you’ve played.” He shrugs. “There’s probably a reasonable explanation, but if you really think there’s a ghost I’ll believe you.”

Kenma searches his face for a hint of teasing, but even though Kuroo has his usual smirk on, he seems to be telling the truth. He’d believe the building was haunted on Kenma’s word alone. Kenma folds in on himself, staring at his shoes. He’s mostly used to how much Kuroo believes in him, but sometimes it still startles him, and he doesn’t know what to do with it.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he says, because it’s one thing to scare himself with a few strange incidents, and another to scare Kuroo with it. If Kuroo would even be scared of a ghost. Kenma hasn’t ever seen Kuroo scared, can’t imagine what it would be like.

“Tell me if you see anything else,” Kuroo says softly. “I’ll believe you.”

“I know,” Kenma says.

-X-

Kenma spends the next free practice in the gym with Kuroo, playing his game. It’s snowing outside now, but the coaches still go out for drinks after dinner. Kenma finds himself nervous to be without any adults in the dorms, but he’s not sure why. After dinner he glues himself to Kuroo’s side, even though he’s still talking with Bokuto and Shoyo, and Kenma doesn’t want to hear either of them of them talking right now.

Eventually they all head upstairs to bathe and go to bed. Kenma bathes first with Kuroo. He gets dressed quickly and leaves his hair dripping. Kuroo sits down to dry his hair, rubbing it into his towel and leaving it even more of a mess than usual.

“I’m heading back to the room,” Kenma says.

“Ok, I’ll be right after you,” Kuroo replies.

Kenma starts down the hallway. It seems a little darker than usual, but all the lights seem to be working. Maybe the heat is using up more electricity. Kenma starts walking a little faster, and suddenly his head is pounding hard enough that he doesn’t even notice Kuroo coming up behind him until he puts a hand on Kenma’s back.

“That was fast,” Kenma says, turning to look at his friend.

It’s not Kuroo. The hallway is empty.

Kenma feels his stomach flip upside down, and he dashes the rest of the way down the hallway, slipping into the room and burying himself in his blanket.

The team is still chatting happily, though they leave Kenma out of it after checking quickly to see if he’s alright. He can hear them occasionally bat Lev away from him as Lev, in his usual honest manner, keeps wanting to see if Kenma needs to be included. He’s very grateful. Lev is the last thing he wants to deal with right now.

After a little while, Kuroo gets called out by Daichi. Kenma can feel his absence like a rain cloud gathering over his head.

Kuroo returns quickly enough. “Looks like there’s going to be a blizzard,” he says. “It’s already started near the city, and the coaches won’t be able to get home tonight. I want you all to be on your best behavior. I have a feeling Bokuto is going to do something stupid without supervision and I’ll be too busy trying to get him to be reasonable to make sure you’re all behaving.”

“Yes Captain,” they all chime dutifully, though Kenma doubts they’d do anything stupid anyway. Nekoma isn’t exactly a team that’s famous for troublemaking.

Kuroo peeks over Kenma’s blanket mound, his hand resting on his shoulder. “Are you ok?”

“If I was a ghost I’d attack in a blizzard,” he murmurs. “There would be no escape.”

Kuroo sighs. “Are you going to be ok with the team for a while? I’m going to smack some sense into Bokuto preemptively and then I’ll be back.”

Kenma hums noncommittally. He figures he’ll wait until Kuroo is back to tell him what he felt. Kuroo will want to talk it over, look around, and he’ll be distracted from his duties as captain. In the meantime, Kenma will be here with his teammates anyway.

“Feel free to come get me if you need to,” he says, giving Kenma’s shoulder a squeeze. Kenma counts the steps as he walks out of the room, and then starts counting the seconds he’s gone.

-X-

“Hey, Kageyama!” Hinata yells, even though Kageyama is right next to him.

“Dumbass! I can hear you!” Kageyama snaps back.

“It’s our turn to shower,” Hinata says.

They walk down the hallway quietly at first. “Do you believe in ghosts, Kageyama?” Hinata asks finally.

“Of course not,” Kageyama grumbles. “What a stupid question.”

“Bokuto says someone died here,” Hinata continues. “And Kenma has been acting funny. Tsukishima said he thought someone was watching him.”

“Dumbass,” Kageyama says. “Tsukishima is just trying to mess with you. And Bokuto is a good ace, but he’s kind of a moron.”

“Eh?” Hinata says. “He gets really excited about things, but I don’t think he’s a moron.”

“That’s because you’re also a moron.”

“Hey!”

Hinata is quiet for all of twenty seconds, sulking over Kageyama’s comment, before he keeps going, much to Kageyama’s annoyance. “Still. All this ghost talk is so creepy. And now we’re going to be snowed in, without the coaches… I don’t know how I’ll sleep tonight.”

“As long as it doesn’t affect your volleyball I don’t care how much you sleep,” Kageyama mutters. “Besides, there’s no ghost, so it’s stupid to stay up because you’re scared of it. Kenma probably got just as scared as you and doesn’t want to admit it.”

“Maybe,” Hinata mumbles. “But if anyone could notice a ghost it would be Kenma. He’s always paying attention to everything.”

“He barely looks up from his games.”

“Still, though.”

Kageyama sighs as they get into the locker room. “Just get undressed, I’ll start the water,” he snaps.

Hinata mumbles a reply, but he’s nervous to be left alone suddenly. It feels a lot colder without Kageyama there. _You’re imagining it,_ he tells himself.

The locker doors are all hanging open, and as Hinata reaches to pull his shirt off, one of them creaks halfway closed, while the others stay painfully still. Hinata blinks at it for a moment.

“ _KAGEYAMA!!!_ ” He shrieks, dashing after his setter. “ _The locker door…_ ” he stutters, pointing with a shaking hand as Kageyama stares at him with his usual annoyed and bewildered look. “ _… it moved…_ ”

“What are you talking about now, Hinata?” Kageyama growls.

Hinata grabs his wrist and drags him over to the locker room. “That one,” he says, pointing. “It’s halfway closed now. It moved on its own!”

“Hinata, idiot,” Kageyama says. “It’s just the wind. Or something.”

“But only one moved!”

“So?”

“So if it was the wind, wouldn’t they all move?”

Kageyama takes a second to respond to that, a second in which the locker door in question slams itself shut.

They both stare at it for a moment, then glance at each other. Then at the door. Then they take off screaming.

-X-

When Kuroo left to check on Bokuto, the last he would have expected is for Bokuto to be perfectly well behaved (and terribly insulted to think that Kuroo would suspect him of being irresponsible) and for chaos to break out upstairs in the wing that Nekoma and Karasuno are sharing.

“Ah, haaa,” Bokuto giggles when they hear the yelling break out. “Look who’s shirking their own captainly duties while bugging me… Bokuto… model captain…”

Kuroo sighs and they both hurry upstairs. The center of the commotion seems to be in the Karasuno room, but the entire Nekoma team is surrounding them. Kuroo glances into the Nekoma room, though, just to be sure, and he sees that Kenma hasn’t moved from his bed. He breathes a sigh of relief and pushes his way into his team to see what’s going on.

Hinata is yelling gibberish, clutching Kageyama as if his life depended on it, and somehow still managing to wave about all his limbs. Kuroo decides not to think too much about Hinata’s anatomy… Hinata has never let his physical limitations stop him. Kageyama looks just as terrified, though, and that might mean a little more.

“What’s happening?” he asks Sawamura.

“He says they saw a ghost,” Sawamura sighs. “But from what I can tell it was just a locker door slamming closed. Probably just the wind.”

“This is why you don’t spook the first years, Bokuto,” Nishinoya mutters.

“Me?” Bokuto cries. “Blame his setter, he’s the one who started saying spooky things. And he said I didn’t know how to tell a scary story.” He turns up his nose and huffs.

“Hey!” Kuroo says. “Don’t blame Kenma for your own flaws.”

Bokuto looks offended again, but before he can say anything, the door to Nekoma’s room slams shut. Everyone looks surprised, but only Kuroo feels the real weight of it.

Kenma didn’t want to talk to people, sure. But he wanted Kuroo to stay with him. There’s no way that he would have closed the door just as Kuroo was talking. Even if for some reason he had, Kenma wasn’t the type to slam doors. He would have politely slid the door closed for some peace and quiet.

“Kenma!” he cries, nearly bowling over Lev as he darts for the door. He tries the handle, but obviously the door won’t budge, even though he’s fairly certain it doesn’t even lock. Without a second thought, he throws himself at the door.

The door doesn’t open.

“Asahi!” someone is yelling, and Kuroo throws himself against the door one more time before he’s dragged back by someone he impulsively elbows in the face.

“Kenma!” he cries again, as someone holds him from behind and Karasuno’s massive ace tries the door. It takes him two dives as well, but the door crunches open.

Whoever is holding him back lets go just in time for Kuroo to dash into the room, stumbling over the pile of blankets encasing his hopefully unharmed setter. “Kenma? Kenma!” he cries, pulling at the blankets.

“I’m ok,” he hears from the blankets, and he nearly collapses with relief. “It only touched my head a little.”

He pulls away the blankets, dragging his friend into a hug. Kenma curls into his lap entirely, clearly shaking. “Kenma,” he manages, because that’s all he can think to say.

“What do you mean it touched your head?” Azumane cries. “Was there really something in here? Did you see it?”

Kenma shakes his head. “I hid,” he mutters into Kuroo’s chest.

“Probably for the best,” Kuroo says. He’s shaking as hard as Kenma is, and he can feel his heart throbbing in his mouth. Even a split second of thinking Kenma could be hurt is too much for him. He wraps his arms around his setter.

“Don’t be such a coward,” Nishinoya is saying. “Asahi, come here. I won’t let a ghost eat you.”

It takes Kuroo at least five minutes to collect himself. He pulls away from Kenma, setting him on the bed before standing up. “Alright,” he says. “I don’t think we can say much about what’s going on here, but there’s certainly something going on and it’s clearly trying to get at anyone alone.” _Or it’s just going after Kenma,_ a terrifying thought in the back of his mind says. _After all, Kenma is clearly the best at noticing it._

“You really think there’s a ghost?” Tsukishima says, raising an eyebrow.

“We all saw the door close,” Sugawara says. “Not to mention Kenma says it touched him.”

“Twice now,” Kenma says from the bed. Kuroo glances down at him. _Why didn’t you tell me?_

“I believe Kenma,” he says, and that seems to do the trick.

Sawamura nods. “He’s right. We’ll stick together,” he says. “Bokuto, bring your teams up here as well. The other teams are in the other building, let’s hope they’re safe. I don’t think anyone should be going outside in the dark, especially not in this weather.”

Bokuto nods. “Right.”

Tsukishimi stands up. “I’ll come with you,” he says. Yamaguchi stares at him, looking terrified, but Bokuto just nods. As silly as Bokuto can be, he knows when to tap into his mature side.

They thunder down the stairs, and Kuroo bends down to pull Kenma up and bring him into the other room. “Sorry I left you alone,” he mutters.

“It’s ok,” Kenma says.

The Fukurodani team joins them, looking bewildered, and they all pack into the Karasuno room. Fortunately, the rooms are spacious enough, so it’s not too packed.

They’ve only just managed to get settled in when the lights shut off.

Kenma clutches Kuroo a little tighter, but Kuroo looks at Sawamura. They can only just see each other in the dim light of the other building, but Kuroo can tell that they’re thinking the same thing. With the lights off, they’re more vulnerable, and everyone is going to be more panicked.

“Let’s check the fuse box,” he says. Sawamura nods.

Kenma shakes his head against Kuroo’s leg and Kuroo pats his head gently. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Don’t leave,” Kenma pleads. His voice is shaking, almost slipping out of his usual monotone.

“There will be two of us,” Kuroo says. “We’ll be fine. You’ll be safe here.”

Kenma doesn’t say anything, but he lets Kuroo slip out of his grip. Kuroo walks towards the door, stopping to put a hand on Bokuto’s shoulder. “Please look after Kenma.”

Bokuto nods, and behind him, Akaashi nods as well. Kuroo feels better leaving Kenma with them. He knows they won’t let him down.

“Let’s go,” he tells Sawamura.

-X-

Kenma is still counting the seconds when Bokuto comes to sit down next to him. “Are you ok?”

 _564,_ Kenma thinks, and nods. “Was there more to that ghost story?” he thinks.

“Ah,” Bokuto says. “Not much.”

“It touched me twice.”

Bokuto is quiet for a little while. “I heard it was a first year who wasn’t very popular. He was bullied mercilessly for being shy, and after a while he couldn’t take it. Threw himself out the window.” He sighs. “It’s terrible, really. I thought it was just a legend, but I guess not.”

“Maybe he’s just trying to be friendly with another shy person,” Lev says.

Kenma shakes his head. “No,” he says, though he can’t pinpoint exactly what makes him say that.

“Maybe he’s jealous,” Kageyama says. Shoyo is still holding onto him for dear life.

Kenma looks up. “That I’m not being bullied for being shy?” he asks.

Kageyama nods.

“You think he wants to bully Kenma so they’re on equal ground?” Shoyo says, tilting his head.

“I guess if I was jealous of someone for having something I didn’t I’d feel better if they didn’t have it either,” Bokuto says slowly.

Kenma frowns at the wording. “What do I have that he didn’t?”

“Ah… the luxury of not getting bullied, I guess,” Bokuto says awkwardly. The lights come back on. _623 seconds to go_ , Kenma thinks. Bokuto grins and punches the air. “Kuroo!”

“Kuro,” Kenma mumbles. Suddenly, his blood runs cold, and he’s running before the realization even settles in. “ _Kuro!”_

Everyone is yelling after him, but he’s already wrenched open the door and into the hall. Where is would the fuse box be?

He runs down the stairs, occasionally yelling after Kuroo, but there’s no response. Finally he gets to the store room in the kitchen, and he almost dashes past it when he sees a food sticking out of the door. He lurches over. “Kuro?” he whispers, but as he gets closer, he realizes that it’s Sawamura. He rolls over when Kenma latches onto his leg.

“Kenma?” he asks, rubbing at his head.

“Where is Kuro?” Kenma asks desperately. He knows he should make sure Sawamura is alright too, but all he can think of is Kuroo.

“I think…” Sawamura says slowly, shaking his head. “I think it took him that way… Kenma! Hey! Wait!”

But Kenma is already running in the direction that Sawamura pointed. He tries to think. What could be in that direction? What…?

He stops, looking slowly out the window. The wind is howling now, and there must be at least two feet of snow.

It’s freezing outside.

And the only thing in this direction, on this floor, is the door outside.

He scrambles to find the door outside. A few people are on the stairs, and they start yelling for him as soon as they see him, but the door flies shut as soon as he gets out of it.

“Kuro!” he yells, tumbling into the snow. “Kuro!” The snow is horribly cold, and the wind more so. It bites into him, but it doesn’t matter.

Each second that passes is more terrifying. Kenma can feel his own limbs slowing down, and Kuroo… Kuroo must have been out here even longer. And Kenma is still wearing his jacket, Kuroo wasn’t wearing his when he set out. “Kuro,” he croaks, nearly giving up hope, when he sees a hand in the snow.

He tumbles over it, scraping at the snow. His hands hurt, but he can’t stop…

He finally manages to clear the snow from Kuroo’s body, but he can’t tell if Kuroo is breathing. He’s so pale, so quiet, so still…

“Kuro,” Kenma whimpers. “Kuro, Kuro, please.” He shakes his friend. “Tetsu,” he tries. “Please wake up.”

Kuroo doesn’t respond, so he tries to gather his friend in his arms and pull him towards the door. Kuroo is heavy and Kenma is frozen too, so it goes slow, but he manages.

At least until a shadow creeps over them. Kenma stops, laying Kuroo down and turning around to face the thing.

It’s horribly disfigured, black as its shadow, with even darker eyes that seem to be carved into its head.

“Please,” Kenma pleads, sinking to his knees. He’s so cold… “Please, I know it’s not fair.” He shakes his head. “But please, don’t hurt Kuro.”

The think doesn’t move, its horrible, rattling breathing like sandpaper against Kenma’s ears.

“Please, do what you want with me,” he continues, falling forward. _I’m the one who’s not normal, Kuro’s just someone who took pity on me. Please don’t kill him for his kindness._ “Just please, don’t hurt Kuro.”

The ghost steps forward, and Kenma wrenches his head up to look at it. It looks human now, a gruesome, mangled human. Kenma meets his gaze, which looks terribly anguished. “I don’t know what I did to deserve Kuro,” he says. Tears are running down his face, and the wind stings him even more. “I… I don’t know why I have him when you had no one. But please… it’s not Kuro’s fault.”

The ghost reaches forward and is still for a moment, then closes its eyes and seems to melt into the snow blowing into the night.

The front door clicks open, and at least five people are suddenly surrounding him. “Kuro,” he says, blankly. Someone is lifting him. “Help Kuro,” he insists, but he falls forward onto their shoulder anyway.

-X-

Kuroo wakes up feeling more terrible than he’s ever felt before. He’s shivering so hard it’s agonizingly painful, and yet there’s hot water running over his skin, burning him. He blinks up at the familiar faces.

“Kenma,” he mutters, because he can’t see Kenma anywhere, but he knows he heard him, yelling… crying… frightened… “Where is Kenma?” His throat isn’t working right.

“He’s downstairs,” Bokuto says. “The team is looking after him.”

“Kenma,” Kuroo says again, trying to push him up. Several hands come from nowhere to push him back down. “I need to see him.”

“Don’t try to get up, you’re freezing,” Akaashi says.

“Please,” Kuroo says.

They sigh, and they murmur amongst each other for a while. “Alright. But then it’s back into a hot bath,” someone else says, and after a moment he realizes it’s Sugawara.

They help him up and down the stairs. The team looks happy enough to see him, but Kuroo’s eyes are only on Kenma, who is curled up in the corner, refusing to look at him. Kuroo pulls himself free of Bokuto and Sugawara, and tumbles over Kenma’s knees. “Wet,” Kenma says. He’s wrapped in a blanket, but he’s still cold to Kuroo’s touch.

“Kenma,” Kuroo whispers. “It’s ok. I’m here.”

“You almost weren’t,” Kenma whispers back. “You could have died. For caring about me.”

He says the word “me” with such derision. “There are worse things to die for,” Kuroo says, trying to joke, but feeling like maybe he shouldn’t have.

Kenma shakes his head.

“Fine,” Kuroo says. “If you don’t think you’re worth it then I get a favor for us to be even.”

Kenma arches his eyebrow. “Is the favor for me to think I’m worth it?”

“No,” Kuroo says, though that thought had occurred to him. “I want to kiss you.”

Kenma freezes, and Kuroo just goes for it. Kenma doesn’t move a single inch, but Kuroo figures at least now he knows what Kuroo thinks of him.

“You said you would be right back,” Kenma says.

“Did I?” Kuroo says. “I did.”

“You lied.”

“I miscalculated.”

“You owe me.”

“Ah,” Kuroo says, grinning as he lets his chin rest on Kenma’s knees. “What do I owe you?”

“Another kiss,” Kenma whispers. Kuroo manages to lean forward just a bit, though Kenma also helps him by pulling his legs closer and leaning forward to kiss Kuroo.

“You know,” Kuroo says, as they pull apart. “I’m not sure that was a favor for you. I liked it quite a bit too.” Kenma smiles a little, and now that Kuroo is sure he’ll be alright, he can’t help but feel the dizziness and exhaustion catch up to him. “I think I need a nap.”

-X-

It takes about three months before Kenma is willing to let Kuroo out of his sight for more than five minutes, and even when he allows it he still ends up clinging to Kuroo the moment he returns.

Not that Kuroo minds, of course.

All in all, he’s kind of grateful for the experience, he thinks, as he watches Kenma dozing off with his hands curled in Kuroo’s shirt. If not for the near death experience, who knows how long he would have taken to finally ask Kenma out.

“You’re making that stupid face again,” Kenma says, because somehow Kenma knows when he’s thinking that Kenma is worth any risk, and given the circumstances, he doesn’t like it.

“Well, it’s your fault for being so cute,” Kuroo says, slipping his arms behind his head. “If you’d stop that, I wouldn’t be thinking about how much I love you.”

“I’m not cute.”

“You are.”

“Am not.”

Kuroo pauses, takes a moment to savor it, then glances down at Kenma. “You are.”

“Am not.”


End file.
